Open Vulpinsula & Surroundings The Changes Upon Us

[Kinza Rainclaw]

“Per’aps if you get any frumpier you’ll stop gettin’ flirted at by your cousins."

Kinza's puffy face puffed further with rage.

"I'm gonna throw ye off the bleedin' roof!"

She advanced on her brother, muzzle peeled in a snarl. What might have happened next was entirely derailed by a sudden loud rumbling. Something gusted past the window, rattling the tavern. Halting in her tracks, Kinza turned.

"What the wazzat?"

Dandelion-seed tufts of fur floated in and tickled her nose.

"AH-CHOOOOO!"

@Lorcan Rainclaw ​

 

[Lorcan Rainclaw]

Lorcan had grinned insolently at the threat in anticipation of a scuffle to come, but it seemed that it was not to be. No sooner had Kinza begun to advance she was distracted by noise outside and, curious as always, her brother was not far behind.

Scowling in confusion he bounded to the window heedless of any potential danger and flung it wide, at once caught by the same need to sneeze as the gesture only invited more particles to come swirling into the room. “Oh boll—‘Chu! – Chu! – ks.”

Wiping his eyes, the burly todd leaned out of the tavern and squinted through the fuzzy haze at the deformed ball of fur still gamely making its way downhill. He blinked twice. A scraping sound followed, and dark eyes tracked the progress of a shield skittering over the cobbles after having been booted off-course. It looked somehow lonely in the expanse of the street. He followed its course to the tangle of creatures who had freed themselves.

“I think there’s some weird traditions in this place,” he mumbled to his sister.

 

[Tanya Keltoi]

A vulnerable flicker of surprise crossed Tanya’s face to realise she had been caught, but time and trust had taught her to forestall shame in it. To show too much affection, or interest, or care, had been a deadly risk when last she had worked in the Imperium. Around her husband, at least, she could revel in the honesty of her feelings.

She laughed, moving closer to Jeshal as she appraised his appearance. “Can I be blamed if I do? The coat looks good on you; Kinza did a good job.” Work-worn smoothed down the shoulders and added a little squeeze. “Fur looks good an’ all, Captain. Very dashing. Forgot you was all fluffy back in the day. Used to like watchin’ you those winters, even if I was hoping you’d slip on the ice. Think this is my first winter being all.." her nose wrinkled, "fluffed up.”

 

[Mina Rose Brewer]

Mina Rose was rapidly discovering things about herself, namely that she enjoyed being pampered and groomed. Sure, it was fun to tease Kaii, to let him see what, by the rules of their little game, he couldn't touch (at least, not in the way that she wanted him to), but more than that, the touches he did give her were caring, respectful, and so very domestic. Mina Rose had once asked her mother why she never kissed Mina Rose's father or did any of the things that were described in the romance novels they both read. "Well," her mother had answered, "firs' off, that would be awkward, doin' 'at where you could see. Secon', yer assumin' we haven' done all 'at to the poin' of it gettin borin'. An' third," she hurried to add before her daughter could grapple too much with the idea of getting bored with that sort of affection, "there's all kinds a' ways t' show we love each other 'at ya'll never find in those books. Li'l ways, like fixin' up 'is fur or straightenin' 'is tie, 'im makin' mah favorite sandwich when I haven' asked, an' so on. When ya find a todd y' can jus' be with, none a' 'at heady passion needed ta feel loved, then ya've found th' one fer you."

It hadn't made sense to Mina Rose at the time; she'd certainly been too young to understand, and, truth be told, a bit too fixated on the type of affection that Geremy had been more than happy to provide. That he'd so easily bored her when they weren't doing that, in retrospect, was a sign that she'd ignored. With Kaii, however, she just listened as he talked, not really understanding more than a few words of it, but enjoying the light in his eyes as he spoke, the clear passion and excitement for his field. Mina Rose wished she had anything she cared about so much. Sure, she liked the guitar, but she'd never been passionate about it. She wished she had something she could talk about and see him look at her in the same way she saw him now. Maybe I could take up mixing drinks, she mused. I'm pretty sure I could make myself interesting if I knew how to make a martini... or what a martini was.

"'S real interestin'," she allowed as Kaii paused for breath in his explanation, "bu' I'm still a bi' fuzzy on wha' ya'd do wiv' one a' these magnets. I mean, movin' metal is real neat an' all, bu' it seems like less hassle jus' ta pick it up an' move it by paw, ya know? I'm wonderin' whatcha coul' e'en use it fer 'at woul' be worth th' effort." She shifted, and stretched, allowing him more ready access to places that she was quite interested in trying to distract him with.

 

[Kaii Nashirou]

Kaii welcomed the question Mina had asked. While he was yet to catch on to the fact he definitely went overboard this time, he did enjoy questions that went past technicalities, especially practical ones. It showed that no matter how much Mina understood from his way too complex explanation, she did listen and tried to comprehend it. The marble fox couldn't be more happy for anything else really. As she shifted however, Kaii definitely needed a second to recompose herself before he could answer. He was mostly done with her torso, but now, as she clearly indicated, came time for the tail and what was under it. Controlling himself without bottling his emotions was something he could only achieve by focusing on the given question. Ultimately, Kaii knew well that Mina was alluring to him, not because of just her body, but because of who she was, how she was and the way she was. Her teasing affected him as much because of all those things, he was after all unmoved by the bare body alone.

As he started combing the tail first, he finally got around to answering her question. "You see my dear, while the forces applied affect metals only, it isn't a problem to put something onto them. Think of a road that has been fit with those. You could put a sheet of metal upon it, place dozens of beer barrels upon it and then be able to push it with just a single beast. Better even, what I was looking into would allow to have the magnetic force applied at will. With adequate control, there would be no need even for that single beast pushing, yet considering how strong magnets are, I am assured the speed would be greater than even what ships allow for. Imagine ordering fifty large pitchers of wine from one of the wineries at the southern end of the Vulpinsula. Instead of waiting for a ship to bring them over, or having a caravan of strong beasts move them slowly, getting them in a day or two, with minimal work of any beasts? It would greatly ease the life of the thousands hauliers. Or it could be used to move quickly, spending hours instead of days on travel would save plenty of time that otherwise beasts could spend on other endeavours."

Working slowly to the base of her tail, Kaii was very focused on his vision of the future. He had many ideas that we wished to try first, including using steam engine to do just what he described, but smoke and coal were a problem with those two. Magnets had only one real problem with them. Very little actual understanding to what was behind the way they have worked. That was why Kaii worked so hard on discovering how they operated.

And yet, upon getting to the parts Mina made accessible just for him, his more primal thoughts emerged again. Ignoring them anymore was impossible without shutting his emotions off fully, but he didn't want to do so. Kaii wanted to enjoy his time with Mina.

So while he continued his work, with his touch and ministrations being as respectful and professional as before, Kaii himself was now silent and blushing, wagging at the sight of the vixen in front of him, trusting him intimately and wholeheartedly.

 

[Talinn Ryalor]

“I missed you too, Dusk.” Talinn murmured back to her, holding her tightly in his arms and taking in her own, light scent. It felt like a heavy weight had been dropped from his heart after so long, like he could finally breathe again. And breathe he did, enjoying every moment of their warmth together. “And I forgive you as well. You were only doing what you thought was right to protect her.” He held on to his wife for some time, before nodding over to his bed, and guiding her so that they could sit together on the edge of it. Siting down, and allowing her to lean on him, he was quiet for some time, enjoying it, before speaking.

“When you chose to spirit her away, it was a dangerous time, our foothold on power was not secured on Westisle, there were already embers beginning to fan against us. Then, when ‘48 and everything happened...we held on to power by a far closer margin than I was comfortable with, and at a high price. I know you’ve taken lives before, but, on a battlefield…” Talinn shuddered “Only a fool or a madman does not care about his beasts. And we lost so many, Dusk, so many. And we were still not safe, even then. If I had not gone to secure our pact with the Imperium...the path to destruction is wide and easy to see. The path to survival far less so.”

He paused, squeezing her paw.

“I do not think I ever talked to you about...why I did what I did...to save our family. Alexei, he...was so fixated on regaining what we had lost that he had forgotten that doing so risked everything we had. He wanted me to climb up those stairs and take the throne myself, as a warrior from Fyador should. I had the beasts to take it, while the others were distracted and exhausted. But...I had seen so many die, and if I had sat down on that throne myself, I knew I would put you all at risk, forever. How many emperors had the Imperium gone through? How many ended up living to die peacefully, let alone their families? Very few.”

His expression looked pained as he spoke the next words as he smiled wistfully. “Despite scheming for it for so long, I could not do it, potentially sacrifice our family and the families of so many of our beasts. So I did what I had to do to avoid that and secure our future, and then when Alexei threatened to challenge me for leadership of the House as a result, I sacrificed whatever honor I had left to stop him.”

And I lost Alwyn when I did so.

His paws were shaking as he continued.

“I am sorry too. I could not see a way out otherwise, not one that was only a piece of paper that could be burned the next time fires engulf the world. I could not risk that, not after all that we had sacrificed, after all the blood shed for this Imperium and our position. Falun, Vaelora, Armina, Alexei, even Weylin. But in doing so, I hurt you. I hurt you so badly, for so long, and I thought I had lost you forever and that I deserved that.”

He started crying as he buried his face in her arms, where he stayed for some time. Then, still holding her paw, he spoke.

“As for Mina...you saw what happened at the Opera House. If that arrow had been fired a few seconds earlier, or if she had not been out on the floor but simply one of the many servants murdered…”

He shook his head.

“In these times, we have to draw ourselves closer, rather than draw ourselves apart. But...it can wait for a while longer. Let her enjoy her life some more. Until after the summons from Amarone comes, when things are more clear, and we...alter the deal. Alter it so you do not have to suffer any more. The price will be high, I’m sure, but the price of seeing you in such pain is higher.”

@Dusk Rainblade

 

[Mina Rose Brewer]

Mina Rose luxuriated in the feeling of having her tail brushed. She'd always had to brush it herself, which got a little awkward nearer to the base; being able to simply stick it out and luxuriate in the bristles running down the extension of her spine was a delight. She lay with her cheek to the floor, humming contentedly as she listened to Kaii's vision for the future as the tingles from his ministrations ran across her body.

"Movin' at fas', though, stoppin' migh' be a prob'm though, righ'?" she asked, her eyes closed to better luxuriate in his care. "I mean, I 'member hearin' once abou' a ship came in t' por' too quick, didn' have time t' stop an' took ou' half th' dock. Goin' way faster, wouldn' stoppin' be e'en harder? An' turns migh' be a prob'm too," she realized. "I mean, unless ya go' some way t' slow ih' down, ya migh' go flyin' righ' off an' crashin' inta somethin'. I ain' spittin' in yer porridge," she clarified, "jus' curious, 'cuz I know if I though' a' it, ya already though' up a solution."

She could hear the change in Kaii's breathing that she recognized from whenever Gendry became particularly taken with the sight and scent of her body. Even as she gave him an analytical matter to consider, she stretched back, teasing him with something he certainly couldn't approach in such a mindset - though she was intrigued that he might.

~~~

Dusk stroked Talinn's head as she held him to her, letting him rest against her bosom as he had back in the early days of their marriage, when she'd held him as he cried, or confessed his fears, or just held onto her for support in the darkness. Those had been difficult times, uncertain and full of fear, when every creak in the night made them both sit up awake, scanning the shadows for the glimmer of an assassin's blade. How many times had Dusk gotten up and softly padded to her kits' rooms, peeking in just to make sure she could see their little chests rising and falling? How many times had she heard Talinn do the same? And yet, for all of the safety she now felt in her life, Dusk missed those days for the closeness between her and her husband, a closeness that seemed at paw once more.

She sighed, kissing his head gently as she stroked his cheek. "You're right," she murmured. "It's going to be painful, but... But I need you back," she confessed. "I need my husband. And it's selfish, I know, but I can't look at you without seeing her paws on you, and I just..." Her other paw clutched his shirt in her fist. "I need you," she repeated, returning to that thought. "I need you to be my husband, and I want to be your wife. I might be the only choice you made for yourself, but you're the first choice I didn't regret." She didn't say only because she would never say, or imply, that she regretted her kits; she loved them for their existence, even if she couldn't look at them without feeling a crushing guilt for how poorly she had raised them.

She stroked Talinn's cheek as she considered, weighing the options. "Perhaps," she suggested, "there's a middle ground for Mina Rose. The tale that..." She winced as she realized she couldn't explain further without revealing Tanya's complicity in the matter. I'll buy her a whole box of chocolates for this. "...that Tanya told her is that Valdrisk survived and had her by an unknown vixen, who dropped her off in the Keys. It was the best we could come up with," Dusk confessed with some amount of shame. "I wanted Tanya to claim Mina Rose as hers, but that had even more holes in it, and Tanya made it clear that I would never get Mina Rose back from her once she was so claimed, so we compromised. Mina Rose knows us as her aunt and uncle; maybe we can keep being that to her. We can bring her into the family, give her some support and protection, but not claim her as a Ryalor. Let her be a Rainblade, with all the messiness that comes with it. A degree of removal from the family might be enough to keep her safe." She could almost imagine what Mina Rose would be if Talinn turned her into a Ryalor, especially if the missing prefix to her name was then added. Armina Rose Ryalor, a warrior princess to rival her sister. I wonder if Talinn would take away Daniil's security blanket and give her Vaelora's blade. She shuddered to imagine the girl so transformed, forced to conform to the image of her cousin, a namesake she would never know.

 

[Kaii Nashirou]

Kaii wasn't a beast new to the game of love. He had some experience from before. In all those cases it was other beasts desiring him, while he was too dissociated from his emotions to truly feel anything in return. But he was a beast nonetheless, sating primal desires was a biological need to him and in the said past, it was during those where he could at least momentarily stop bothering with bottling his emotions as they were overtaken by the animalistic brain of his.

Right now, with Mina, Kaii was feeling it creeping up into his brain. But he was fully, absolutely feeling also other things unlike ever before. The warmth of love, genuine protectiveness and care for Mina, desire to connect with her more... just to name the few. Complexity of his feelings now were far beyond capabilities of his poor social intelligence and he knew it.

But there was something that just clicked in the mind of his. As if he suddenly understood a particularly difficult assignment and found a way to resolve it...

Or more like he finally got that no extreme was perfect. Letting them coexist in this moment was how he could be truly himself. His sharp mind and his fierce natural self finally had connected.

Letting go of Mina's tail, as it was already done, he gently turned her around onto her back, knowing that his last task was to trim her from the waist down. However, he moved to lean over her, putting his paws on her legs with the tools. He took a part of her fur into the comb and slowly run the scissors through it. Then he spoke, his voice was still deep, but it warm as the sun itself.

"Heh, you do know me well indeed. Let's start with the speed indeed." He ran the comb up her thigh. "Notice how easily the comb goes now... comparing it to this." He did it again, this time pressing two fingers into her body, gently to not hurt her, but enough to slow down the combing. "What seems obvious, in engineering is more complex... we call it the Third Law of Mewton. Each action causes an equal and opposite reaction. As I press into your leg, it presses into my pawfingers too, slowing them down." He presented it again, by placing a gentle kiss on the mentioned leg. "This is how one can easily stop anything fast enough. It is all about applying adequate force... and with magnets? It can be a huge force."

He then did cut down some more fur, precise still, but being now very close to Mina with his whole body. He set aside the scissors, putting them next to Mina and put his pawfingers to more manually now work on her fur.

"And you would be right with turns too... but once more, there is a way to this." His free paw and claws slowly brushed through her fur, perfectly following her natural curves while pressing a bit against it, gathering enough for the following paw to cut it down with scissors evenly. "I was only moving my paw forward, yet it turned. another simple but phenomenally obvious thing it is, that depending on from where you put the force, it will affect the object to go the exact opposite way, and to just avoid turning it, you merely need some angular force, provided by properly finding places to apply force." He presented some by gently turning Mina to the side while holding her paws on her sides, for better access to her calf. "A magnets once more can do so with no problem... or if there can be a rail set, it would work even better."

Satisfied with the way he trimmed the fur on her legs while getting to steal more touches, he now moved to the last place left. The underbelly. Kaii cleared his throat and offered a smile that was confident, with his eyes blue set ablaze, despite being half-lidded. "Should I explain more? Or is it time for the finale of this crash course on magnetism and dynamics my love?"

 

[Jeshal the Ironclaw]

Jeshal turned to face the sight he preferred far more to himself. How strange it was to be on these shores again so much later in life. Tanya looked so different and yet so much the same, different mainly because he was different now. Being back in this world gave him new ways to look upon the vixen who had ruined his life and saved it in more ways than one.

But his crooked grin was the same as ever. Paw and claw found her waist; he stepped closer in a playful dance.

“Suits ye more than ye’d care ter hear, love. As will seeing ye on a proper ship again. This be the start of us seizing Bully by the ears. There’s been too much misery and bloodshed already, time ter be showing this place and all those backward fools how deadly we can really be.”​

 

[Tanya Keltoi]

There was a strange echo of who they had been; the discussions in the weeks leading up to their departure from the city and all the plans it had entailed. Gruelling though it had been, and emotional wrench though it was, Tanya could not deny that there had been a thrill in conspiring with Jeshal. After all those years of veiled threats and professional allegiance they were truly aligned in goals.

Everything they had sought to create as a team had come to pass: she had every faith in her husband that they would find their footing here once again.

Once upon a time Tanya would have rolled her eyes, refused such playful antics. Kutoroka and the years in between had shifted something. She fell into playful step, swaying with Jeshal. “Mmmh, well per’aps I’ll make special dispensation for comments coming from you,” she replied, a lilting, raspy edge to her voice reminiscent of a feline purr. “You and me never came to Bully seeking the bigger picture but we both fell into it. This time I’m imagining if we want somethin’ there’s little anybeast could do to stop us. You’re going to dazzle ‘em all over again, love, startin’ with getting you back aboard a proper ship, too.” Her muzzle crinkled in a grin. “Not that I can imagine you be’aving in a Navy uniform bowing an’ scrapin’ to the gentry.”

 

[Talinn Ryalor]

@Dusk Rainblade

“I…” there were so many emotions, so many things he had kept bottled up, that he found it hard to speak and instead let it trail off. Instead, he simply leaned his face into his wife’s paw and closed his eyes, enjoying the warmth. It had been so long since he had felt at peace and like himself. Despite it being so early in the day, he felt so tired and exhausted, the past decade and all of his responsibilities seeming to catch up to him all at once. The stress of guiding the House through such a narrow gate when so many other Imperial and Fyadoran noble families had been cut down like wheat before a scythe was exhausting. If only Falun had lived, and he could have simply been the second son, simply been like Tanya and Jeshal with Dusk, sailing away to some foreign land drinking rum, enjoying the sun, and raising their kits. The thought pained him. But there was nothing he could do about the past.

“...will consider your proposal about Mina, but for now, could we stay like this for a while? I...have missed this.”

It was too much for him to decide on at the moment, there were too many moving parts, too much uncertainty, but he would genuinely consider it in the moments he had time. For now, he just wanted the certainty that his wife loved him again.

​

 

[Dusk Rainblade]

Dusk simply nodded, cradling her husband to her and softly kissing his cheek. "Of course," she murmured. "Of course we can stay like this." I'll stay, the unspoken promise whispered between them. She'd gone long enough without him to regret having left, and she had no desire to do so again.

~~~

As Kaii gave his explanation, adding in a highly practical demonstration, Mina Rose found it increasingly difficult to concentrate on what he was saying. Her mind was supplying a large number of other experiments they could try involving force and equal and opposite reactions, most of which she was sure wouldn't be covered in a textbook. As he turned her this way and that, she whined softly, not with any pain but a fervent desire. Why is him talkin' all smart doin' such a number on me? she wondered privately. She'd never had this reaction with Geremy... but then, Geremy hadn't been the brightest ember in the fire anyway.

As they neared the end of their little grooming session, Mina Rose could hardly keep her breath from hitching in her chest. "Ye can keep going," she told him softly, desire lowering her voice to barely more than a whisper. "I was jus' thinkin', ya migh' need a failsafe a' some sor'," she breathed, her green eyes nearly all pupil as she looked up at him. "Righ' at th' end a' th' track, 'ave somethin' real soft ta catch yer train in case ya go too fast. If it's soft enough, ya migh' nah' even have ta worry abou' bein' gentle wiv' yer use a' force."

Ma woul' rinse ou' mah mouth wiv' soap if she heard tha' talk.

 

[Kaii Nashirou]

Kaii's smile became predatory in a way that no beast who knew his would ever suspect him of. He was a primal beast, one that was held on the leash by his mind to make existence easier. Now however, the two worked together towards the common goal.

He crawled further forward with haste and found himself muzzle to muzzle with the vixen that made him feel that way.

Putting his paw in hers, he squeezed it. His tail tangled with Mina's as he got lower and closer to her.

"Ah but you see Mina, while you are right, allow me to show you how effective restraining force can be."

He pulled himself up, then almost collapsed onto her, only stopping exactly at the place where he could gently kiss her, their noses touching.

"Quick break result in soft landing as you can see. And the opposite is true as well. a landing can be... much fiercer than expected with a soft breaking."

After lifting himself up, he then slowly went down, purposefully lowering himself at a slow pace. However, this time he sunk into Mina, giving her one very deep kiss and pressing his body to hers.

 

[Mina Rose Brewer]

This time, when Kaii landed on her, Mina Rose was ready, wrapping her limbs on Kaii and pulling him into a deep kiss. What followed ended the physics lecture, though it began a very thorough demonstration on the application of physical forces.

(Aaaaaand fade to black while we can still plausibly claim PG-13)